Rare is the bartender who makes such an impression that customers who were otherwise strangers recognize each other outside their usual haunt just because of the cocktail genie they have in common.

Fiercely goofy, refreshingly uncensored and warm to the bone, Dimitri is such a bartender. Find her Friday and Saturday nights in Tottenville's Mizu Japanese Hibachi at 240 Page Ave.

"She is a gifted conversationalist who swaps stories with the Asian staff just as easily as she does with South Shore gangster wannabes," says Frank Morano, 23, of Woodrow, a regular for the last three months. "It's impossible to sit at the bar for more than 15 minutes without absolutely falling head over heels in love with her."

A consummate professional, Dimitri, 27, never flusters no matter how busy the bar gets, say her fans. A seven-year veteran of the biz with a year at Mizu, she's a true mixologist.

"I love food and drink," says the Bulls Head resident, who is earning her bachelor's degree in English at the College of Staten Island. In the coming semester, she's starting a support group for abused women. She's met many of them working in the restaurant industry, she says.

"I just want to get some knowledge in their heads that they don't have to take it," says Dimitri, a dead-ringer for E! Network news host Giuliana Rancic.

Describing herself as "single and not looking" -- Staten Island men who live with their mothers are a major buzzkill -- Dimitri says bartending works for her because she loves talking to people and the late hours.

"I have a real problem with the morning," she says, releasing a Julia Roberts-caliber laugh.